For the fourth year in a row, president defies law that demands action on Medicare

posted at 4:50 pm on March 1, 2012 by Tina Korbe

The president must not be aware of the so-called “Medicare trigger” because, for the fourth year in a row, he’s ignored it. By law, if the trustees of Medicare issue a warning that the program faces insolvency, the president must submit a legislative proposal to reform the entitlement program no later than 15 days after he submits his budget.

Specifically, the law mandates that the Medicare Trustees issue the warning when, for two consecutive years, they determine that general revenues will account for more than 45 percent of Medicare’s outlays for the current fiscal year or any of the next six fiscal years. In other words, when the Medicare trust fund will cover no more than 55 percent of the program in an upcoming fiscal year, the Trustees are bound by law to warn the president and the president is bound by law to respond to the warning with a plan for reform.

The Trustees issued just such a warning in their last report (the fifth consecutive year they’ve attempted to trigger reform), but the president has not responded to the warning (the fourth consecutive year he’s ignored it). The deadline was Tuesday at midnight.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions aren’t happy about the president’s negligence and sent a letter to him to demand his proposal. Given that he’s willing to ignore the law, it’s doubtful a letter will compel the president to act — but, at the very least, it should help to call attention to the president’s lack of seriousness on this issue.

Why won’t Barack Obama put forth a Medicare proposal? Simple. If he does, Democrats lose the opportunity to demagogue the issue in the run-up to the 2012 election. Paul Ryan’s premium support plan to reform Medicare would actually save and strengthen Medicare — yet, in at least one special election, Democrats managed to convince seniors that Ryan is the pol who wants to push granny off a cliff. They’re hoping to convince seniors of the same in the 2012 presidential election.

In reality, the president’s decision to do nothing to reform Medicare is a default decision to destroy Medicare — or, rather, to allow it to destroy itself. At least one Democrat — that would be Sen. Ron Wyden — has realized this and has partnered with Ryan to promote a premium support plan alongside traditional Medicare. The Ryan-Wyden plan is a less palatable compromise than Ryan’s original plan, but it’s better than nothing. Predictably, Wyden took heat for his willingness to team with Ryan.

Still, Ryan’s not giving up on the issue; he convinced all the GOP contenders to stand by his plan (even Newt Gingrich reversed his controversial comment that the Ryan plan is “right-wing social engineering”) and he’s slowly building a bipartisan coalition to promote it, too. A handful of Democrats have anonymously admitted they like it — but are afraid to openly support it until after the election.

Those of us who know that entitlement programs are the key drivers of our debt have a responsibility to spreadthefacts — and to back up politicians who stick their necks out for bold solutions. They’ve got to know we support them — and the president needs to learn we see through him. We won’t believe he cares about seniors or the social safety net until he proves that he cares about seniors and the social safety net — by putting forward a plan to save Medicare.

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By law, if the trustees of Medicare issue a warning that the program faces insolvency, the president must submit a legislative proposal to reform the entitlement program no later than 15 days after he submits his budget.

Slightly OT, but is HotAir going to have a post about the Sheriff Arpaio investigation Drudge is fronting? I watched all of the videos from the Drudge link. Pretty damn compelling stuff. The Selective Service registration, at least, is definitely a forgery — can’t lie about the kind of stamp the US Postal Service was using in 1980. I suppose this will go nowhere, and I’ve been one in the past to say “let the ‘birther’ stuff go,” but holy hell, there is definitely some there there. Can’t Congress at least demand to send a bipartisan group to Hawaii to see the ORIGINAL birth certificate, not the photocopied one? Has anyone besides a Hawaiian democrat politician ever said they saw the original?

Slightly OT, but is HotAir going to have a post about the Sheriff Arpaio investigation Drudge is fronting? I watched all of the videos from the Drudge link. Pretty damn compelling stuff. The Selective Service registration, at least, is definitely a forgery — can’t lie about the kind of stamp the US Postal Service was using in 1980. I suppose this will go nowhere, and I’ve been one in the past to say “let the ‘birther’ stuff go,” but holy hell, there is definitely some there there. Can’t Congress at least demand to send a bipartisan group to Hawaii to see the ORIGINAL birth certificate, not the photocopied one? Has anyone besides a Hawaiian democrat politician ever said they saw the original?

Rational Thought on March 1, 2012 at 4:56 PM

I was wondering the same thing. This is the first investigation by law enforcement and they have a person of interest. But I guess we are supposed to go to another website to get the info, a real shame.

Under this joke of a president, I’ve realized that it takes more than simple laws to hold together our great nation. It also requires that men of honor hold the political offices.

The Soviet Union had a very nice constitution, which was a joke because the rulers of the country ignored it. Little Bammie ignores US law with impunity, almost like he is daring us to do something about it. We can’t fix the problem that little Bammie has illuminated, another law won’t do it because he would just ignore that too.

The president must not be aware of the so-called “Medicare trigger” because, for the fourth year in a row, he’s ignored it. By law, if the trustees of Medicare issue a warning that the program faces insolvency, the president must submit a legislative proposal to reform the entitlement program no later than 15 days after he submits his budget.

It’s too bad that there isn’t an opposition party, that say, controlled the House of Representatives and every penny spent by the federal government, then we would have the power to fight and stop Obama’s irresponsible actions and inactions.

Oh, wait, the Republican Party absolutely controls the House and every penny spent by the federal government, once more proving that the Republican Party is largely useless.

A Texas court has ordered the state’s primaries to be moved from April 25 to May 29, making it less likely its Republican presidential contest will impact who the GOP nominee is.

This is the second time Texas has had to move its primaries back: It was initially slotted for March 6, Super Tuesday, and would have played a major role in the Republican nomination process.
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This. Plus the subject of this thread, closing 4 electric plants in PA, 2 more soliders killed in Afghanistan, and to me, the “mysterious” death of Andrew Breitbart. Time for impeachment. If not, then he has to be defeated in November. If that doesn’t happen, then what?

If the House files a writ of mandamus in DC district to demand that Obama follow the law, then Republicans are serious – and not until.

They can send sternly written letters all day long and nothing happens. Formal demands in court that Obama stop breaking the law would force Obama to at least send the Department of Justice to explain failure to do what the law requires.

By law, if the trustees of Medicare issue a warning that the program faces insolvency, the president must submit a legislative proposal to reform the entitlement program no later than 15 days after he submits his budget.

Congress is absolutely useless, wait a minute, in it’s present condition. There are over eleven thousand staff members that do the work our Congress takes credit for and if that many people can get together and solve a complicated problem there is no need for a Saint or his Boss. Here you go to check me out but remember the info is ten years old so give me a break.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_staff

The House should just shut down until the President meets his responsibility on this. And (I hate to say it) there needs to be a sound-bite sized sentence written and no one in the party is to go off script. Period. The alphabets will always bait one of them into saying something that they can spin, otherwise. It might be possible to compel the alphabets to report the sentence. In that case, more than a few people on the internet might learn of the issue.

The House should just shut down until the President meets his responsibility on this. And (I hate to say it) there needs to be a sound-bite sized sentence written and no one in the party is to go off script. Period. The alphabets will always bait one of them into saying something that they can spin, otherwise. It might be possible to compel the alphabets to report the sentence. In that case, more than a few people on the internet might learn of the issue.

kunegetikos on March 1, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Never; we just don’t have that party discipline. There will always be those camera whores like Johnny Mac who cannot resist the invitation to expound on the issues and even go against their party’s leadership in exchange for the pat on the head they will receive from the media.

BTW, the corresponding 55% trigger is not that the Medicare “Trust Funds” cover 55% of Medicare’s liabilities; it’s that the dedicated revenues to Medicare (i.e. its cut of FICA/SECA and the premiums/co-pays) don’t cover 55% of Medicare’s liabilities. Interest earned and used off of the “Trust Funds” is general revenue.

By law, if the trustees of Medicare issue a warning that the program faces insolvency, the president must submit a legislative proposal to reform the entitlement program no later than 15 days after he submits his budget.

I think I found the loophole he’s been abusing.

MadisonConservative on March 1, 2012 at 4:54 PM

Actually, Obama has been submitting budgets, so that’s not an excuse. It’s that the ‘Rats don’t want to acknowledge reality.

First, I do not believe that a law compels the Office of the President to act. The Constitution defines the role of the Office. It is nice when they follow the intent of passed legislation, but appropriations are the province of Congress. I don’t accept the broadening of the Presidency.

Second, they have no inclination to lessen any financial burden. You have to understand the racial-redistributionist form of socialism they are attempting. Until you get that, everything just looks like individual grievences. The sum of the parts…

Congress wants less responsibility on everything, force their hand. If that helps Obama, so be it. That is what democracy American conviction looks like.

This kind of thing is incredibly discouraging. The law says the Senate has to pass a budget. The law says the President has to submit a legislative proposal if Medicare faces insolvency. And on and on and on, the water drops hit the stone one by one, gradually wearing it away. One day people will look around and wonder, what happened to the stone? Too bad it will be too late.

Narcissus doesn’t need to follow the law? Then neither do we. A lawless ruler deserves noncompliance–& Congress is asking for the same. Surely we can follow the Great Zero’s example!

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.